Hug Twice

My father passed away in his sleep last night.  He was 58.  Heart attack is the likely reason.

My kids called him Poppa.  Well, CJ did.  Alexa wasn’t really saying much, even last Christmas.  I always spelled it Papa, and he always spelled it Poppa.  And really now, it doesn’t make much of a difference at all.

Honestly, I’m heartbroken.  And too shocked to completely feel it.

the one thing I will always, forever remember about my dad is how proud he was of me.  I was his little girl, who in her own mind didn’t always amount to much, but to him, I am a superstar.  He always supported me and thought I could do anything, even when I didn’t.

He loved his son-in-law, and his grandkids, and sharing his spirit with them and me.  He was always the life of the party and fun to be around.  He was the guy everyone knew and everyone remembered. But mostly, he was my dad.

Goodbye, Poppa.  We will all miss you.

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Alexa’s been in speech therapy, an hour once a week, for a few months now.  And honestly, so far the progress she’s made isn’t really speech exactly.  She’s making a lot more eye contact.  She’s actually looking at you when you speak to her consistently instead of just when she feels like it.

But the biggest noticeable difference, to me, is that all animals no longer Baa by default.  When we started this, they all did.  Every animal baaaed like a sheep.  No matter what they were.

But now, we have a huge variety of appropriate animal sounds.  From cats to cows to horses to lions, and everything in between.

My favorite, and Alexa’s favorite at the moment, is the elephant.  “Rooooooooouuuuuu” is the best I can describe it.

It is good to be two.

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One of the things the allergist told us at Alexa’s appointment is that letting a child eat the same food all the time leads to food allergies (regarding the food they are overloading on).  That sounds odd.  But accept that as true - I am in So. Much. Trouble.

Both of my children (especially CJ, but Alexa to a big degree too) like to eat one food all the time.  Then after a few days, they want to eat another (different) food, all the time.  They are bingers.  they request the exact same snack (or meal) for days on end.

I blame Matt.  He is like this too, but he can be reasoned with.

Alexa is tiny.  She doesn’t eat enough in the first place.  Deny her her current favorite, she just goes on a hunger strike.  Right now, current favorite is South Beach High Protein Bars.  She stole one from Daddy a few days ago.  Deny her that as a snack, she just drinks water and pouts (or screeches, whichever).

CJ’s even worse.  Give him something he’s unsure of, he’ll just gag himself.  Sigh.  Sadly though, he can somewhat be reasoned with (as long as the thing you are trying to replace it with is something he accepts as edible).

Ah, it is a FUN time around here regarding food, let me tell you.

And hey - the allergist made a tape recording of fully 40 minutes of specialized instructions for what to do for the house, regarding the cats, food, etc etc etc….  yikes.  The idea just makes me cry.  Literally.

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A while back, Alexa had a severe allergic reaction to something.  Suspected an antibiotic (amoxicillin).  Because of that, and my own history of allergies, she was referred for an allergy screening.

Which was today.  And we learned that genetics is a powerful thing.  I have respiratory allergies, Matt has both that and asthma, and after testing Alexa’s mucus, the doctor told us she tests positive for respiratory allergies.  There’s something in her environment that’s bugging her, even though she isn’t constantly congested or anything.

So now I have to literally sterilize the house.  And assume that CJ is also positive for allergies with such a strong family history.

Her stuffed animals go in the freezer for 48 hours to kill mites.  I am sure she is going to LOVE that.  Heh.

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I would be sitting on a stool in a bathroom talking to my four year old about not yanking on his foreskin.

CJ is not circumcised.  It’s a choice Matt and I made, and not one I’m big on debating either way.  it is what it is.

We’ve always treated it like just a fact of existence with CJ, and just like any other part of his body, taught him how to clean/care for it.  And then today CJ screams from the bathroom “MOMMY my penis HURTS!!!!!”

And lo and behold, he’d forced his foreskin back all the way and created a sore spot.  Ouch.

So we had the “please don’t pull on your penis like that when it hurts” discussion.  And I gave him a half-dose of tylenol, more for the psychological benefit.

And I pondered again how Matt always misses moments like these. 

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